Rubicon Technology Malaysian sapphire equipment on the block
If you have the desire to enter the world of sapphire substrates, now is your chance. Rubicon Technology (RBCN) is putting up for auction ~$350k of sapphire cutting and polishing tools formerly used by its Malaysian sapphire polishing facility. Rubicon, at one time a force in the sapphire substrate business (4th largest worldwide producer in 2014), had fallen on hard times as sapphire substrate pricing fell from its 2010 peak to levels where few, if any, manufacturers are able to scrape out profitability, despite the use of the material as a substrate for LEDs, which have been successful in replacing incandescent and compact fluorescent lighting worldwide.
The company has recently changed both management and philosophy, no longer focusing on the LED sapphire substrate market but concentrating on the large sapphire ‘window’ market, used in aerospace and similar military and commercial applications. Previous managements had set up the Malaysian polishing facility to process patterned sapphire substrates, but the facility was never used to any large degree. Rubicon has also shuttered significant sapphire production capacity at its Franklin Park, Illinois facility and is considering the sale of other local facilities.
The company has recently changed both management and philosophy, no longer focusing on the LED sapphire substrate market but concentrating on the large sapphire ‘window’ market, used in aerospace and similar military and commercial applications. Previous managements had set up the Malaysian polishing facility to process patterned sapphire substrates, but the facility was never used to any large degree. Rubicon has also shuttered significant sapphire production capacity at its Franklin Park, Illinois facility and is considering the sale of other local facilities.
Patterned Sapphire Substrate Pricing Trends - Source: i-Micronews, August 2015
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